The Mad Prosecutor Picked Up AI - Chapter 127



Only Krnovel

Episode 127 Keyboard Warrior

3am when everyone is asleep.

The wide four-lane road was extremely desolate, with not a single car passing by. It was not a nightlife entertainment district, but a shopping district that closed at 10 p.m., so there was no sign of people on the sidewalk.

It was a pitch-black night with heavy rain pouring down and even the streetlights were flickering. A dark shadow appeared in my field of vision.

A man wearing a black raincoat pulled over his hat, holding something in one hand, bowed his head and quickly approached a tree in India. The man stayed for a while, waving his hands next to the tree, and then moved away.

The man approached the tree next to him, which was 4 meters away, spent some time there, and finally approached the third tree next to it.

It was impossible to tell what he was doing in the pouring rain. The man, who had finally finished his work, disappeared into the pouring rain again.

Under the flickering streetlights. There was no sign of anyone having been there a moment ago, and the streets were soaked in the pouring rain.

* * *

“Wow, are you talking about that tree?”

“Yes. All five trees over there are like that.”

Detective So Hae-jin walked briskly toward the tree. Unlike the other trees around it that boasted green leaves, this tree was completely dry and dying.

The tree, which looked dull yellow-brown even from afar, was even more spectacular up close. The yellowed leaves and twigs had long since fallen, and even the base of the tree was rotting away.

As I was clicking my tongue and looking at the tree, Kang Gu-young, the head of the Green City Division of the Gaemyeon-gu Office, who was standing next to me, spoke.

“But these two trees here are permitted. The problem is those three trees over there.”

“is it so?”

Detective So Hae-jin walked toward the trees on the side that Chief Kang Gu-yeong had pointed out. Those trees weren’t in a good state either. They were dying like the two trees he had seen before.

“This and that are all the same? They’re all dead?”

“Originally, a permit request was made to our district office for those two trees.”

“Permission requested?”

As Detective So Hae-jin blinked and looked at him, Chief Kang Gu-yeong pointed to the building behind him with his hand.

“The owner of the building has requested permission from our district office to build a new parking lot behind the building. He asked if it would be okay to cut down two trees to address the parking lot access problem.”

The building that Manager Kang Gu-young pointed to was a small two-story building. The second floor seemed to be occupied by small offices such as a lawyer’s office, and the first floor was entirely a cafe.

“We gave permission for two trees after conducting an on-site investigation, but later found that five of them were dead.”

“hmm.”

“We reported this to the police because someone intentionally killed three more trees.”

“How did you kill this thing?”

“They probably used herbicide. It looks like it’s dried up and died.”

Detective So Hae-jin, who had been examining the tree, got up and looked around. It was a typical street with a wide four-lane road and shops lined up on both sides.

Across the street, there were stores such as a real estate store, a pharmacy, and a bakery, and on this side, next to the problematic cafe building, there was a cosmetics store, an accessory store, etc.

Detective So Hae-jin tilted his head.

Is there any benefit to be gained by killing trees here?

Usually, the problem with street trees is caused by fruit. For example, if the street tree is a ginkgo tree, the ginkgo nuts that grow on it are stolen.

Direct tree killing is usually associated with large tracts of land that are being developed. This is because people want to kill and cut down all the trees in areas where development is restricted because the trees or forests have conservation value, and then sell them for development.

But this is not that kind of place. Since it is a sycamore tree, there is no fruit to be had, no beehives or pests to live there, and no need to cut down the tree and then dig up the land.

Detective So Hae-jin, who was scratching his head, spoke to Chief Kang Gu-yeong, who was waiting patiently next to him.

“At first glance, all five trees appear to be dying in the same way. They also die at similar times.

However, further investigation is needed to determine whether this is due to an unknown pest or the actual herbicide.”

“Will you let us know when the investigation results come out?”

“Of course. What, are you going to claim damages?”

“I have to. How much does it cost to grow and care for a single tree?”

“Yes. Then I will investigate and contact you.”

Detective So-Hae-Jin looked at the rotting trees. It seemed that all five of them would need to be individually analyzed for their wood and soil composition.

I needed to know whether they died from pests or from herbicides, and if they died from herbicides, whether they were all the same ingredients and how much was in them.

Who killed this tree, who is the suspect?

First, I met Lee Sang-jun, the building owner and owner of the cafe on the first floor.

“Why do I kill trees?”

In response to detective So Hae-jin’s question, Lee Sang-jun shouted in an annoyed tone.

“Look here. The whole street is green and pretty, but in front of our building, all the trees are dead. If you were me, detective, would you want to come into a cafe, drink some delicious coffee, and look at all those dead, rotting trees?”

When I heard that, it was like that.

“So you’re saying that from the beginning, you were only planning to kill the two trees on the left?”

“Of course. I have to make a parking lot entrance there. I recently remodeled the first floor here, and it hasn’t been open for long. How much money has been put into it? Oh my, all I can see outside the window is rotten wood.”

“Did you spray the herbicide yourself?”

“No. Jongbeom ordered it. He’s our cafe manager.”

Lee Sang-jun looked around to see if anyone was listening, then lowered his voice and spoke.

“Just between us, I think that guy is the culprit.”

“Are you the cafe manager?”

“That’s right. I told them to buy some weed killer and kill those two trees, but they just killed all five of them.”

“By mistake?”

Lee Sang-jun opened his eyes wide as if he thought it was nonsense.

“What a mistake! If it was a mistake, you should have killed the two trees over there instead of leaving this one alone. How could you kill all five trees?”

“That’s true.”

“Besides, I clearly said it was because of the parking lot, but killing all the trees here was intentional.”

“What’s that manager’s name…?”

“It’s Jong-beom, Song Jong-beom.”

“Do you think Mr. Song Jong-beom would have a motive to do that? Does he have a grudge against the CEO?”

“The resentment is overflowing.”

“yes?”

“… … .”

Lee Sang-jun, who had been talking excitedly, cleared his throat for a moment.

“That’s what I mean from his perspective. He was late so many times that I told him something and he got mad at me. He smoked inside when there were no customers. Anyway, I nagged him a bit.”

“I don’t think you hold a grudge because I nagged you… … .”

“Not a little, but a lot. Um, a little… … How should I put this, depending on how you look at it, you could say it’s a little too much… … .”

Lee Sang-jun trailed off as he looked at Detective So Hae-jin.

“yes.”

Anyway, we got one important clue. Cafe manager Song Jong-beom may have a grudge against CEO Lee Sang-jun, and therefore, he has a clear motive for using herbicide to kill all the remaining trees.

“Is Mr. Song Jong-beom in the cafe now?”

“No. Because I fired you.”

“… … .”

“I was upset when I found out that the tree had become like that, but the tree kept insisting that it wasn’t me. So I cut it down right away.”

“We need to investigate to see if he is the real culprit.”

“What is there to look into? If you look at it, you can get an estimate. This kind of thing… … .”

Lee Sang-jun, who was about to give a long-winded account of the criminal to the detective, closed his mouth in surprise.

“Thank you for your advice. I will look into it. Please give me Mr. Song Jong-beom’s contact information.”

“yes.”

Detective So Hae-jin took Song Jong-beom’s contact information from Lee Sang-jun and turned around.

* * *

Ta-da-dak ta-da-dak-.

In the quiet office, only the sound of typing could be heard. Wi Jun-woo and I were busy reading the case files, so the sound right now was definitely Ki So-young recording the case…

No.

Kisoyoung’s seat was empty. Come to think of it, I went out with a cart to get the case files that were assigned to me today. What about this sound?

I turned my head to see Manager Han Jae-sik typing away at his keyboard. For a while, meditative music had filled our office, but now the sound of typing had become the background music.

‘Oh. Your skills have improved a lot in just a few days.’

[Don’t you think you’ve finally found your talent?]

‘I became a keyboard warrior and my typing skills improved.’

He was famous even when he was in the 8th detective division. He was Chief Jiang Taigong who wasted time doing nothing.

Even after coming to the Jongbeopbu, there were days when I couldn’t tell whether I was meditating or enjoying the silence, playing meditation music. Now, like a warrior, I was hitting the keyboard with fire in my eyes as if I was going to break it.

“Aww, that’s annoying!”

“Then my keyboard will really break.”

“These guys keep being annoying.”

“Just leave it alone. It’ll only last a little while.”

Manager Han Jae-sik, who was typing, glared at me.

“Wait a minute! Yesterday, I got an international call from my daughter in the US. She said she made a bet with her friends to ask if there was a secret investigation unit at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”

“Where did you hang it?”

“I bet it’s there… … That’s not important right now!”

Manager Han Jae-sik, who had been typing with a smirk on his face, shouted at the monitor again.

“No, this kid!”

“why?”

“Hey, what do you mean by ‘I’m going crazy’? Is that a curse word?”

“uh…….”

“What is a trolling out?”

Although I didn’t answer, Manager Han Jae-sik was sure that it was an insult from the look on my face and his anger gauge was rising.

“You guys with no blood on your heads. Do you know who I am?”

“Uh, manager?”

“Hey, how do I capture this screen? I’m going to sue all these guys for defamation under the ‘Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.’”

Who would call him a prosecutor? Just look at him rapping that long law.

“Boss, are you going to fight with those runny-nosed kids right now?”

“Whether it’s a runny nose or something! You’ll know how scary the law is only after you receive a complaint and are summoned to the prosecutor’s office!”

Chief Han Jae-sik, who went around each community and typed ‘This is the Jongbeopbu’ diligently, then within a few days, fought with netizens and was reborn as a keyboard warrior, snorting.

‘You’re not being serious, are you?’

[You look annoyed.]

‘If you’re an AI, speak more politely like an AI. What do you mean, “get angry?”

[What can I do with limited input data? If Hyungwang says something nice, then what I say will be nice.]

I thought I should read a book of poetry to Aliotta for her beautiful words, but that wasn’t important right now. First, I had to stop Manager Han Jae-sik.

“Don’t even dream of suing. When that’s on the news, everyone will start cursing the prosecutors. Everyone already hates prosecutors.”

Manager Han Jae-sik, who was glaring at the monitor as if he was going to kill it, gestured to me.

“Sword, come here and leave a comment. I can’t do it alone.”

“Me?”

“These guys are just being sarcastic, swordsman style. Come and show me what real sarcastic means.”

“I’ll decline. Do you have any work to do in the comment section?”

“That guy has no sense of shame.”

Manager Han Jae-sik, who had been glaring at me, then asked Wi Jun-woo.

“Manager, would you like to comment with me? I think you’d be much better at it since you’re young.”

“I’m busy too. Sorry.”

When both Wi Jun-woo and I refused, this time the sparks flew to Ki So-young.

“Then, Soyoung… … . Oh, you went to receive the case.”

I said to Manager Han Jae-sik, who was scratching his head.

“Boss, why don’t you try meditating again?”

Manager Han Jae-sik pretended not to hear me, closed his eyes, and took control of the atmosphere.

“As expected. Am I the only one in our district attorney’s office who can deal with these guys?”

Manager Han Jae-sik opened his eyes wide and charged towards the monitor again.

‘Tsk tsk. If this keeps up, I’m really going to sue someone.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly and then opened the file I was looking at earlier.

‘Hmm. The tree poisoning incident. You killed the tree?’